Where Are You Now?
by Lumineer
Summary: Bella has left Forks without a word. No one knows where she went. Her family and friends wonder every day - why? Why did she leave? Did she go because she couldn't handle staying? No one knows where to start looking. The search ends before it starts. But one werewolf can find her with a supernatural gift and he's determined to bring her home no matter what. JacobxBella.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Notice/Basic Summary: After watching the movie 'Into the Wild', which has Kristen Stewart in it for a short period of time, I decided to attempt this fan fiction. A short summary of it is that Bella has left Forks in the middle of the night, on her own, supposedly to search for Edward. She left no information about her whereabouts. She didn't tell anyone she was leaving. She simply left. The first chapter is Jacob's reaction. It's violent and heart-breaking. **

Where Are You Now?

Jacob's Point-of-View:

For those who knew her, it was inevitable that she would leave. She was too broken to survive in the very place where he had left her stranded. Each time I looked into her eyes, I saw that a piece of her was missing. Her soul was deteriorating and her hope was draining. It was inevitable, her leaving. It was inevitable that she would pack up her things in the middle of the night and just fucking leave. Walk out of her father's house like she had a god damn clue where she was going. God, she was so _stupid._ Did she really fucking believe that she could fucking survive on her meager savings? Did she really think that she could hitch hike across this God forsaken country in search of him?

I stopped myself with a rueful laugh, running a hand over my hair. Of course she really believed it. She was going crazy here. Day by day, I knew that her sanity was dwindling. I knew that one day she would snap or she would leave. Tears finally spilled out of my eyes and ran down my face; I wiped at them angrily, cursing her for being so god damn stupid. She left because she was too weak to handle the pain. Did she even realize what her leaving would do to those who knew her? Those who watched her break a little every moment of every day but hoped that one day they would see that smile again, they were the ones doing the real hurting now. Her absence was like a darkness enveloping me and whispering into my ear, never letting another thought process go through unless it was about her. That stupid girl with the long hair and the green eyes and the porcelain skin who stole my heart without even realizing it.

Wherever she was, I hoped that she was alright.

• • •

I woke up the day after I heard of her leaving. I left a hole in the wall of my bedroom. Dad told me, quietly so as not to upset me anymore, that he would ask Sam to fix it so that I wouldn't have to. So that I wouldn't remember why I'd made the hole; so that I wouldn't go bat shit crazy and do it again. And again. And again. Over and fucking over until this house was riddled with fist-sized holes and the jagged edges stained with blood from my knuckles. I glared at the hole, wanting to reach my fingers inside it and just pull. Pull the wall down. Pull the entire god damn house apart. Maybe then I would find solace. Maybe I would get a sign of how long she would be gone for. Maybe I would finally numb myself.

I stood up swiftly and grabbed the blue baseball cap hanging on the door knob of my door. Dad was gone. He was visiting Charlie, making sure he was okay. The man had run out into the early morning screaming her name. Her leaving because she was broken was now breaking him. I wanted to go see him. I wanted to ask if she'd left behind any signal of where she was going. I wanted to tell him that I would find her; for him and for me. I would find her and I would bring her ass back home before she got hurt.

_Crack. _Another fucking hole. I left the house before I could do anymore damage, the screen door violently smacking the frame behind me. I walked toward the edge of the forest that crowded our little red house. I took the skinny path that I hadn't taken since we had been kids. Since before she ever thought about love and before she ever thought about pain. I walked for hours, maybe in circles, no real destination in mind. I just walked. I walked and I walked and I walked until my legs felt like Jell-O and until I thought that she had left my mind.

_CRACK. Shoooo. BOOM. _I'd ripped a tree limb from its trunk, tossed it across the path, where it smashed into another tree and splintered into hundreds of pieces. She should have fucking told me! She should have waited for me! She should have picked up that fucking cell phone she never fucking uses and called me! I would've convinced her to stay. To stay in this worthless little shit town with me to grow old and get married and fuck and have kids. A normal life. A life where she and I were together and she wasn't broken inside and I wasn't so fucking angry all the time.

I tore through the forest that afternoon. Devastation made me feel calmer. My knuckles were bloody and my fingers were a mess of cuts and splinters. I'd broken tree limbs and punched tree trunks and thrown heavy rocks at the ground and screamed into the green canopy. I'd cried and I'd rocked back and forth and I pretended she could hear me when I begged God to bring her home. I went back to that little red house with the woods crowding in on it and the hole in my bedroom wall had been fixed, but the part of me she had torn open was still fresh and throbbing and bleeding. I lay down heavily and I closed my eyes and I pretended that my dreams weren't only of her.

**Author's Notice: Very dark and fairly crazed. This chapter is full of grief and it actually made me sad to proof read it; to know that I can write sorrow better than I can write happiness. Give me your feedback – should I continue with this fan fiction? If so, where will I take it? **


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notice: I've decided to continue! As this story develops, I hope that I will get many more opinions on it (: **

Chapter Two

Bella's Point-of-View:

Buses and taxi cabs had been in my plans for travel at first. I quickly started to realize that taxis were too expensive, so buses became my main means for travel. I took multiple ones throughout the state of Washington, winding my way south, staying at a women's shelter here and there, but mostly sleeping on the cracked plastic seats. I stared out of the windows for hours on end, my mind mostly devoid of thought.

Even though I didn't think much, when I did, it was usually about my dad. I wondered what he was doing at that moment in time. Was he wondering where I was? I'm sure he was. I had been careful to leave no traces behind; all of my plans to leave had been hidden in a notebook that I carried in my back pack now. Stuffed full of map cut-outs, Map Quest print-outs, lists of where to go and what to see and what to do while I was on the road.

I decided early on in my planning to leave for the south. I would take as many buses as I could all the way through Washington and maybe Oregon, if I could, then as far into California as I could. I didn't have much money, but I had a bus pass that was viable at most bus stations. I was careful with it. If I ever lost my bus pass, I would be doomed to hoof it.

I didn't really know at first why I wanted to go to the south. Maybe not the southeast – Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana – but definitely south from Washington. I didn't really want to go to Arizona, even though I knew the terrain well. I was worried that my mom would find me there, even in a large state. I just wanted warmth. Sun and maybe some sand and surf. But from the start, I knew that I would eventually be caught or I would return home. This journey was only temporary, but it would last for a while.

• • •

The bus's brakes squealed and I was tossed against the back of the seat in front of me, blinking the sleep from my eyes frantically. Car horns blared and the few passengers that had been awake during the crash peered over the tops of the seats at their driver. I'd known as soon as I'd boarded that the man was a drunkard. Apparently, during the night, while most of the passengers were asleep, he'd been steadily sipping at a thermos of hard liquor. I'd smelled it on him when I'd climbed the stairs and let him scan my bus pass.

The police came and all of the passengers were ordered off of the bus. My heart thrummed against my rib cage when the sheriff told us that we would all have to give a statement. I hoped that no one had issued a missing person's report. I hoped that we wouldn't have to show identification. I hoped that the black hair dye I'd used covered my naturally brunette hair well enough.

A thin man in a police uniform with wire-rimmed glasses approached me. He was young; like he had just gotten out of the academy and into the field. But he was confident in his work and dutiful. He took out a pen and a little note pad and started to ask me questions about the accident. I told him that I was asleep, so that I wouldn't be of much help, but he'd looked up at me severely and said, "Every statement counts for something."

I told him that I'd smelled alcohol on the bus driver when I'd boarded, back in the southern part of Washington. I felt that the man was swerving a bit, but nothing that couldn't have been due to the rain and the traffic. The policeman took extensive notes, nodding occasionally to show me that he was still listening intently. When I finished, he clicked his pen and tucked the note pad inside his coat pocket. We stood in silence for a few beats before he opened his mouth to speak again.

"Where are you traveling from, if I may ask?" He was polite and had kind blue eyes and a trustworthy face, so I decided that it wouldn't kill me to answer without a complete lie.

"Near Seattle," I told him with a small smile. He nodded and I could tell he was calculating the distance from Seattle to Olympia.

"Why so far away from home?" he inquired, real curiosity in his voice. I sighed through my nose and looked off to the side at the little shops lining the street. I'd been to Olympia a few times but I'd never stayed long. Mom had never liked Olympia. She said it was for old people.

"Just needed a change of scenery." I adjusted the straps of my back pack and the policeman, whose name tag read Officer Davison, smiled at me. He nodded and told me to have a safer trip, laughing when he put extra emphasis on the 'saf_er_.'

• • •

I boarded another bus a few hours later and took that one all the way out of Washington into Portland and on. I didn't even know how many days had passed since I'd left, but I'd stopped caring. I'd stopped worrying and I'd stopped trying to turn my cell phone on. I knew from being a policeman's daughter that I could be tracked if I turned my cell phone on. I also knew that I would need to renew my bus pass in the next month, which created a problem. By then, my face could be all over 'Have you seen her?' posters.

But by then, I could be so far south that the missing person's report couldn't reach me.

**Author's Notice: A reviewer suggested that I make the next chapter Bella's Point-of-View, which I've done. Hope you enjoyed.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Sam's Point-of-View:

It had been a week since Bella left. The pack was still in a disarray over her running away; especially Jacob. He mostly moped around, but if anybody pushed his buttons ... let's just say that Quil was still sore. The rest of the pack was worried, of course, myself included. Bella was like our little human sister; so tiny and breakable and so hopelessly in love with a creature that could've killed her easier than any of the pack ever could. And Jacob was so hopelessly in love with her, the girl who ran with vampires.

I woke up that morning and went outside into the brisk morning, knowing that I would probably not find Jacob at our usual meeting spot for patrols. He'd skipped most of his patrols, unless they were with Jared. Jared was a quiet boy; never had much to say, but he was always writing things down. Up and down his sun-kissed arms, on the backs and palms of his hands, little note pads he carried in his pockets, and so many notebooks that I'd lost count a long time ago. Jared's quiet nature evened out Jacob's volatile state, so I let them patrol together. But this morning, Jacob and I were supposed to patrol.

As I suspected, Jacob wasn't anywhere near our meeting spot. He'd abandoned patrols again. The other times, I'd been a bit angered, but now I was furious. He couldn't let Bella's running away interfere with the safety of La Push and Forks. We still had things to do. Patrols and life still needed to move on, even if Bella wasn't here to move along with it. I decided not to phase and simply jogged through the crisp morning to Billy's little red shack.

Billy knew that Jacob had skipped out on patrols all week. He'd called me one afternoon, saying he'd spoken with Jacob about not fulfilling his duties as a shape-shifter of the La Push tribe. The boy had blown up and smashed two fresh holes in the walls. When I walked into the warm house, I saw that Jacob hadn't fixed them either.

Billy looked up at me and nodded, wheeling himself into the kitchen to finish whatever food he was cooking. I tramped down the skinny hallway to Jacob's room and pushed the door open, frustration making me push too hard; the door smacked against the wall, rattling the knick knacks on Jacob's dresser.

He looked up at me and I suddenly stopped. There was so much sadness and so much pain in those dark eyes of his. It was heart wrenching to look at him, so I averted my eyes to what he was holding: a back pack, packed and ready to be swung over one of his shoulders. I crossed my arms over my bare chest, feeling a chill slither down my spine.

"Just where are you planning to go?" I knew he was going to look for her. I knew it the day I heard that she'd left. A dark feeling settled in my gut. "Do you think you can sniff her out? Only the gods know how far she's gotten by now."

"I have to try," he told me with so much intensity that some of my resolve melted away. He loved her. He needed her; probably more than she needed him. Who was I to say that he couldn't go after her? "I had a dream last night. The premonition told me that she was headed south; not to the southeast, like Louisiana or Georgia, but south from Washington. California namely."

Months ago, when Jacob first phased, we had discovered that he had premonition. A sense of what was going to happen; like future telling, but premonition was much less accurate and predictions could change at any time. It was an extremely rare gift to be given to a shape-shifter. I had only heard of premonition once and it was when I was a child, listening to my mother tell stories about our tribe. The last shape-shifter with premonition was a white wolf named Okana, who didn't seem to have any relation to Jacob.

It was just another testament to how powerful Jacob was going to be.

"You can't skip out on patrols without a word, Jacob." I was scolding him; I knew it and he knew it. "You use that cell phone I bought you. I don't want to go a day without an update and if I do, I'm going to California, finding you, and kicking your smart ass."

He grinned at me. The first real smile I'd seen on his face since Bella left. I motioned for him to come closer to me and I hugged him. Even though premonition had told Jacob a specific region where Bella would be, an uneasy feeling still settled deep inside me and I knew it wouldn't leave anytime soon.

Without another word, Jacob shouldered his back pack and squeezed passed me. I closed my eyes and heard him explain in short detail to Billy why he was leaving. I heard Jacob's almost dead tone and Billy's tear-threatening one. There was a brief silence before they said goodbye; a hug. I tilted my head back, eyes still closed, and I spoke to the gods for the first time since I was seventeen.

"Keep him safe," I asked them. "He's young and stupid and in love, but keep him safe." I opened my eyes and I left the little red shack with the feeling that the next time I returned, it would be to receive bad news.

**Author's Notice: A lot of foreshadowing in this chapter, as well as the introduction into a new shape-shifter ability: premonition. I tried to explain it as best as I could in the chapter, but if you're still confused, leave me a private message or review with a question about premonition and I will answer it in an Author's Notice at the top of one of the next chapters.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notice: If you're reading this before the next two chapters are out, my plan is to put chapters four, five, and six up TONIGHT! Just for you lovely readers! Wish me luck!**

Chapter Four

Bella's Point-of-View:

My entrance into California was sunny and hot. The bright warm sunlight woke me up from a mid-afternoon nap, shining in my eyes, pure and hot. It was a nice way to wake up; I hadn't felt the almost too-hot burn of a sun not overcast on my face in what felt like forever. My bus stopped and I disembarked, jumping onto the sidewalk with fresh enthusiasm. I pulled the map of California out of my back pack, sitting down on a bench that was in the sun. My bare shoulders were already turning pink.

I estimated where I was; somewhere close to Sacramento. Road signs displaying the distance from whatever town I was in to Sacramento had lined the highway. Since I couldn't turn on my cell phone, I looked around to see if anyone walking by had a watch and looked kind enough to give me the time. A man in a thick three-piece suit strolled by, a newspaper tucked under his right arm.

I stood up, quickly trying to follow him. "Excuse me," I called. He turned and looked down at me, a kind smile already twisting his mouth. There was a polite arch to his dark eyebrows, made darker by the contrast of his pale skin. My eyes connected with his and I stumbled backward, grasping for something to keep me from falling down in shock.

He had the same golden eyes as a vampire.

He looked young, maybe twenty, but he could have been centuries old. Carlisle had looked only thirty and he was close to seven-hundred years old in actuality. This vampire was tall, too; over six feet, he towered over me. It made him even more threatening.

So many things ran through my mind. How could a vampire exist in California? His skin wasn't even sparkling. The day I'd spent with Edward in our meadow, when he'd unbuttoned his shirt and showed me how his skin sparkled like diamonds in the light, rushed to the fore front of my mind and it was painful. This man wasn't possible. This man was some sort of half-breed mutant of the vampire race that could walk around in broad daylight without seeming unusual. It went against everything I knew about vampires and everything I knew about the Cullens.

The man looked surprised by my reaction to him, but there was a suspicious tilt to his perfect lips. He made a move to reach out to me, maybe to stabilize me on my own feet, but I jerked away from his approaching hand. He looked even more surprised now. "Miss, are you alright?"

I hissed a breath between my teeth, backing away from him until the backs of my thighs knocked against something. I reached behind me, not wanting to take my eyes off of him, and found that there was another bench behind me if I fell over. "I know what you are." My voice was low and breathy; panic thick in the tone.

He narrowed his golden eyes at me. My heart slammed against my rib cage, my breath coming deep and hard. "Let's not talk here. Come to my office with me and we will talk more."

I shook my head violently, stands of my now-black hair brushing against my cheeks in the process. I was having a panic attack. Heart racing, finger tips cold but palms hot and sweaty, breathing labored.

His eyes softened, portraying the possibility that he knew why I was panicking so much. He didn't know. He couldn't have known. "I won't hurt you, little dove. Who told you of us?"

I stammered my answer, resolve dwindling a bit, but panic still raging. "Carlisle Cullen."

The vampire nodded and reached out a hand to me again. "Carlisle and Esme were friends of mine from the old days. Please. My office is around the corner. Come with me and we'll talk more."

A creeping feeling of dread crawled up my spine. I knew I probably shouldn't have trusted him, but he'd known Esme's name without my mentioning it. That had to count for something ... right? I nodded hesitantly and stepped forward, but didn't touch his hand, declining the invitation. He dropped his hand and turned, strolling toward the corner.

I had a bad feeling about him. Then again, vampires didn't sit with me very well anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Bella's Point-of-View:

The vampire, who told me that his name was Ezra Gould, led me to an office building around the corner, as he'd said. It was tall and impressive, mostly made with reflective panels that shined almost blindingly. I shielded my eyes, but tried to catch a glance at Ezra, hoping that he would start to sparkle at any moment. He didn't.

We entered the lobby of the building and crammed ourselves into an overly crowded elevator. Ezra slid his arm in front of a man chatting loudly on a cell phone and pressed the very top, very last button. The top floor. I gave an almost irritated sigh and Ezra looked down at me, chuckling quietly.

On the way up, we had to shuffle around while groups of people clambered out of the elevator to get to meetings, workshops, and other 'important' places in the building. Finally, it was just Ezra and I in the elevator. If he had been planning to kill me, it would have been the perfect time to do it. Instead, we rode the rest of the way in silence until the sharp 'ding' of the elevator indicated that we had reached our destination. Albeit with many detours.

I followed him down a long thin hallway and then into an office. It was well furnished: all black leather and dark woods. Two plush leather arm chairs sat at angles across from a short leather couch that had an end table on both sides and a coffee table in front of it. It looked like a wealthy man's home. The rug was a semi-circle, shaggy and white, and was thicker than the business-like gray carpeting that the rest of the office had.

"You have a very nice office," I observed, sitting down in the middle of the short couch. Ezra went over to a tall skinny table that rested against the opposite wall and poured himself what smelled like a brandy. I didn't think that vampires drank alcohol.

Ezra was proving to be very different from the Cullens.

Finally, he came to sit across from the couch in one of arm chairs, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his long fingers around the little glass of brandy. I felt uncomfortable under his golden gaze, which was so much like Edward's that it was frightening. "So," he began, probably noticing my uncomfortable shifting, "Carlisle told you of the vampire race."

I nodded.

"He has told you the difference between the red and the golden eyes?"

I nodded again, noticing that Ezra had a slight British accent. He nodded too, thoughtfully. "What connection did you have to Carlisle and the Cullen coven?"

I swallowed hard, averting my eyes from his. "His youngest 'son', I guess you could call him ... I was in love with him."

"Ah," Ezra said knowingly, nodding with a sad smile. My cheeks flushed. "Many a girl has fallen for a vampire boy. Many a girl has been left and hurt by a vampire boy. You are the one that they left behind."

Tears prickled in my eyes and I shut them tightly, breathing evenly through my nose to try to ward them away. I would not cry in front of Ezra, a possibly dangerous vampire that I didn't even know. I hadn't realized that he had sat down next to me until his cold fingers brushed my bare shoulder in a comforting gesture. It made me freeze.

"You are looking for him. Subconsciously, maybe, but you are looking for the one that left you behind. I must warn you, child; the youngest is not with them. He has run away, much like you have." His tone was soft and comforting, but it only brought me grief.

A tear slid down my cheek and Ezra swiped it away. "I have an apartment that I no longer use. It is not too far from here. Stay there tonight and catch the next bus in the morning, back to your home."

I stood up. "I appreciate your trying to help me, but I don't want your help. I've made it this far without help and I'll make it farther without help. My intentions weren't to find Edward, they were to leave, which is what I've done."

Ezra sighed and leaned back against the couch, sipping his brandy and crossing his ankle over his knee. "As you wish, little dove."

I stood in front of him, somewhat awkwardly, before I turned and left. I didn't need his help. Maybe I had hoped to find Edward on my journey, but it didn't mean that my entire mission was about him. My mission was to get away from Forks. I had mostly succeeded; now I needed to find a place to go.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notice: So sorry about the wait for this chapter! I had some things going on and it was just impossible to focus on writing. But here it is!**

Chapter Six

Jacob's Point-of-View:

Washington had already descended into cold weather and the need for a good winter coat was upon me. I took my savings and went to a nice consignment shop that I had visited before. Seattle was full of them. I bought a coat that was leather on the outside and soft faux fur on the inside. It was comfortable and I was surprised to say that it fit me. I didn't really need the coat, since I would probably burn myself into a crisp inside it, but I needed it to keep up appearances. I couldn't walk around in a short-sleeved tee shirt when it was almost 40 degrees and most people were bundled up in multiple sweaters.

I waited by the bus stop for an hour and in the mean time, I called Sam. It only rang twice before he picked up. "Hey, Sam, it's Jake. I'm in Seattle, waiting on the bus to Olympia."

He sighed in a way that was mixed with sadness and frustration. "_They aren't running those buses anymore – the Seattle to Olympia. One of them wrecked and the company was shut down for investigation. But I do have good news. Bella was on that bus._"

"The one that _crashed_? How is that even remotely good news, Sam?" I paled. How could Sam think that Bella being on a bus that crashed is good news?

"_Listen, stupid. It's good news because now we know how far she's gotten. You're only a few days behind her. If you phase and take the woods and be careful around city limits, you could probably catch up with her in two days._"

I frowned, thinking on the proposition. If I did phase and run, it would put me at a risk for hunters. Then again, the run-in I'd had with the hunters in Forks had scared them shitless. They were still talking about the bear they saw in the woods that afternoon, not realizing that it was actually a wolf that could turn into a boy and back again.

I sighed. "Okay. I'll find the entrance to the forest and take that route. I had a dream last night on the bus and premonition told me that she's at the edges of Sacramento. It even showed me the damn bus route." I shivered.

"_Wicked but creepy,_" Sam said. "_Since you'll be phased, I don't expect you to call me. But call me as soon as you phase back and when you find her. I'm wiring some money into an account for you two to fly back. The debit card is in the front pocket of your back pack. I had Billy put it there since I knew that you would probably leave to find her and wouldn't have much cash. Stay safe, kid._"

And he hung up.

I shook my head with a rueful smile. Sam always knew. Whenever it came to the Pack, I believed that he had premonition himself.

• • •

Running hadn't been a bad idea. It was exhilarating and calming at the same time. It was also faster than a bus that made frequent stops to let passengers off. The down side was that it made me tired whenever I phased back. I had to stumble from my wolf form and collapse in a patch of clover a few times to sleep off the nausea and hallucinations that came with being so exhausted.

But, just like Sam said, I reached Sacramento in roughly two days. I changed on the edge of the forest and ventured into the city, quivering slightly on my human legs now that my body had gotten used to running on four. The nausea was subsiding but my exhaustion wasn't. I practically stumbled into the lobby of a tiny motel and leaned against the back wall to wait in line after a lady with a sleeping baby and an obviously worn out toddler.

I checked my cell phone and saw that Sam had sent me a text message. _$1400 in the account. Use wisely._ I shook my head, smiling. That son of a bitch. He spoiled me.

I ordered a room for the night and collapsed on the creaky mattress, curling up under the sheets and breathing deeply through my nose. I was trying to keep calm. I knew that I would get something from the premonition tonight; I could always feel it before I went to sleep. That creepy feeling that something was trying to take over my mind for a little while. It always made me afraid to go to sleep, even though I knew logically that it was just the premonition.

I dreamed of finding Bella on a bench on a busy street corner.

**Author's Notice: Again, sorry for the long wait, but here's chapter six. Let me know what you guys think!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Notice: ATTENTION! This is the final chapter! Parting Author's Notice at the bottom~**

Chapter Seven

Bella's Point-of-View:

I spent the night in a sleazy motel, worrying that I might catch an STD from the sheets and mattress. I ended up sleeping on the floor with one of the pillows and a somewhat dusty blanket from the cleaning lady's cart. I had told her that I was cold and the woman, plump and dark-skinned, chuckled at me. She asked me if I would sit and talk with her for a little while and I agreed; I had nothing better to do, why not get to know some of the people around town?

Her name was Cheryl and she was originally from Mississippi. She was forty years old and had been working for the motel for two years. In that short amount of time, she said she'd seen a lot of crime against girls my age. I shuddered when she told me the story of a teenage girl who'd been found in the dumpster out back. We shared a meal together at the McDonald's next door to the motel and Cheryl told me about her kids and her grand kids and her husband.

"I'm takin' up all the talkin' time, ain't I? Talk to me, girl. Where you from?" Cheryl asked as we tossed out trash away and walked out into the brisk night. I wrapped my arms around myself and Cheryl shook two cigarettes from a pack, offering me one. I had dabbled in smoking before, so I took her offer gratefully.

"Washington." Cheryl looked surprised and I smiled sadly. "The man I love left me in the woods and I couldn't stand being in that town anymore. I needed somewhere brand new." I took a drag off of my cigarette, staring at the lights of the city.

The wise woman nodded, taking a drag of her own cigarette and giving a harsh cough. "I know how that tale goes, girl. And I ain't gonna tell you that you too young to love, 'cause ain't nobody too young to love."

I spent a good two hours chatting with Cheryl until she had to leave. I was surprised when I saw the time again and Cheryl smiled. "It was the end of my shift, honey. I enjoyed spendin' it talkin' to you." She patted my knee and stood up with some difficulty, her creaking joints making her groan with exertion. She said goodnight to me with two cigarettes for the morning and I climbed the stairs back to my room.

• • •

The next morning, I was freezing. I shivered and curled up further on the floor, pulling the dusty blanket over my body more. After about a half hour struggling between sleep and wakefulness, I finally got up. I pulled on my shoes and wrapped myself in the thick coat I'd brought, even though the sun outside was probably already warming the ground.

I sat on the top step and smoked one of the cigarettes Cheryl had given me, trying to make up my mind on where to go. I didn't want to go too deep into California, because I feared the crime, as dumb as that sounded. I resigned to going northeast, toward Nevada and Idaho. I put out my cigarette and went back to my room to pack.

I packed up and pulled my back pack onto my shoulders, stopping by the motel's front office to drop off my room key before heading toward the bus stop after I got walking directions from an Indian woman who barely spoke English. I just hoped that I'd heard her right.

I reached the bus stop an hour later, shrugging off my back pack and my coat, stuffing it inside. Once I got into a stationary place, I would have to buy more clothes. I'd barely brought anything and had been forced to use some of my money for public laundry mats. Once I found a place I liked, I would have to get a job.

I sat on the bench by the bus stop and brought one of my knees to my chest, picking at my nail polish. I didn't know what to do. I was homesick and I knew that people would be worrying about me. I'd managed not to think of my dad or Jacob all this time, but they were suddenly at the forefront of my mind. I swiped tears away with the back of my hand.

I just so happen to look up then and my eyes locked onto the person across the street. Star struck, he stood there with his mouth open, prepared to shout out my name, but I'd seen him before he could manage to make a sound. Jacob Black had somehow found me. From Washington to California, he'd found me.

Dread swirled in my stomach; I knew he would take me back to Forks. I wondered how much trouble I would be in from my parents, especially my dad. I wondered if Renee had flown up to Forks. Jacob stepped onto the cross walk and practically shoved people out of his way to reach me. I stood up and he smashed into me, picking me up and spinning me around and breathing roughly into my neck. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and squeezed my eyes shut, shaking. He'd _found _me.

Maybe I hadn't run away because I was hurt. Maybe I hadn't run away because of Edward. Maybe all I wanted was to be saved. To be found. And Jacob found me. That night, we stayed at the same motel where I had met Cheryl. I saw her later that night, when Jacob and I were huddled together on the steps so that I could smoke the last cigarette she'd given me. I gave her a big smile and she nodded at me. I knew that if guardian angels existed, Cheryl was one. Maybe not mine, but she was definitely one of them.

• • •

The next morning, Jacob and I flew back to Forks and into the ecstatic but frustrated arms of my family and friends. Renee hadn't gone up to Forks; she wasn't even told of my being gone. Something had kept Charlie from telling her and I think it was because Renee wasn't a big part of my life anymore. Charlie was my parent and Renee was like a cousin I had lived with for a while. I would always love my mom, but she wasn't much of a mother.

I married Jacob in October of the next year. We had our first child, a dark-haired, dark-eyed girl we named Cheyenne, the following summer. We bought our first house that September and we've been together ever since that day he found me in Sacramento. I didn't hear from the Cullens again, but slowly, my memories of them began to fade and it was only me, Jacob, and Cheyenne. And I couldn't have been happier.

**Author's Notice: Some of you might not be very happy with this ending, but I am. The story was about Bella running away and then being found. I was thinking of making a sequel, but I decided against it and instead ended it with this final seventh chapter. I hope that all of you enjoyed it and I hope that you all will stay tuned for more fan fictions and possibly some original stories.**

**It's been a good ride,**

**-M.**


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